Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
Habitat
Ground
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
16 g
About This Species
A strikingly colourful songbird of scrubby thickets, hedgerows and woodland edges in the southeastern United States and Mexico, with males showing vivid blue, green and red plumage that makes them easy to identify once spotted. It forages low in dense cover for seeds and insects, often coming to backyard feeders offering white millet, and males sing from a low, exposed perch in spring. Late spring through summer, during the breeding season, offers the best chance of seeing a singing male.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- View from a distance and avoid pushing into dense cover to flush a bird for a better look, since this disturbs feeding and nesting behaviour.
- Migratory songbirds are protected under law in the United States and Mexico, including restrictions on capture, though enforcement details differ between the two countries.
- Its striking colours make it a target for the illegal cage-bird trade in parts of its range, so never attempt to capture, trap or purchase a wild-caught individual.
LCAvesPasseriformesCardinalidae
Seasonal Activity
566,026 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cardinalidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 16 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.